Tyrod Taylor: NFL quarterback or bust

The first step in Tyrod Taylor's pre-NFL draft preparations was all about taking a stand. If he was going to be looked upon as a quarterback by NFL teams — and only as a quarterback — he needed to believe it was his birthright to play the position.

The truth is that's never been a problem for Taylor. Though many critics don't think he has the size to be an effective quarterback in the NFL, Taylor has never wavered in his devotion to the idea of lining up at quarterback in the league. Taylor will find out sometime in the next three days if there's an NFL team that just as strongly shares his belief.

"I'm a quarterback," said Taylor, a 6-foot-1, 217-pound Hampton High graduate who went on to become the all-time leader in wins (34) by a starting quarterback at Virginia Tech. "When you play a position for so long, some people will look at your athleticism at that position and think you can play someplace else (on the field), which is not always the case.

"I've always played quarterback. Quarterback is what I know. Quarterback is where I win at. Why even think about another position?"

In January, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said he saw Taylor as a quarterback that could be selected somewhere in the fifth through seventh rounds, but added Taylor could slide up into the third or fourth rounds if he was looked at by NFL teams as a "multi-dimensional prospect" — in other words, a player that would be willing to move to another position.

"If he's not open to that, I wouldn't draft him until the sixth or seventh round — if at all," Kiper said. "I want a quarterback who's iffy, but has a chance to at least be open to making a move. If they tell me it's quarterback or nothing, I might not even draft him."

Among the people Taylor consulted with during his pre-draft odyssey was childhood hero and fellow Hampton High legend, Ronald Curry. In his college career as a quarterback at North Carolina, Curry finished up as the Tar Heels' all-time leader in passing yards and total yards, the same categories Taylor set career marks in at Tech.

When Curry was drafted in 2002 in the seventh round by the Oakland Raiders, he was moved to wide receiver, where he stayed for the entirety of his eight-season career. Taylor said Curry told him if he could do it over again, Curry would've taken another shot at playing quarterback in the NFL.

"As far as the athleticism is concerned, I'm sure I could go out there and be successful at other things, but that would just be me working off athleticism," Taylor said. "If I had to cross that situation, then I'd do what I have to do. But I'm going into it as a quarterback."

Prior to participating in February at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, where Taylor posted the fastest 40-yard dash of any quarterback with a time of 4.51 seconds, he worked out for several weeks in Duluth, Ga., at Competitive Edge Sports, an elite training facility that works with draft-eligible athletes.

Chip Smith, a Chesapeake native and Western Branch High alum, is the founder of CES. Among the hundreds of players that eventually were drafted that have come through CES, Smith worked with former Auburn quarterback and potential top overall draft pick Cam Newton between the time Newton left Blinn College in Texas and before he came to Auburn.

Which quarterback — Newton or Taylor — is more prepared for the NFL purely from a knowledge standpoint? Smith's assessment may be surprising.

"Unlike Cam Newton, who if you watched him in some of his interviews where they've asked him to draw up what his favorite play was and he goes blank, Ty would draw up schemes and show (CES consultant and former NFL quarterbacks) coach (Roger) Theder who (Taylor's) progressions would go to and who his 'hot' calls were," Smith said. "Those are all the things you'd expect a really good quarterback to do.

"I don't think (Taylor) has gotten the respect because of the one thing he can't control, which is his height. You look at Drew Brees. Drew is smaller than Ty. I think anybody that doesn't think he can play quarterback in the NFL is being short-sighted. I've said all along I really think Tyrod Taylor is going to be the steal of the draft this year. I still feel that way."